Premiere: Source Decay – Dirtbag Charlie

Premiere: Source Decay – Dirtbag Charlie

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Source Decay is a controlled creative chaos collaboration led by Travis De Vries, working with a rotating crew of artists to develop a new local Blak sound that merges pop-punk urgency, experimental rap and highly produced sampling.

Alongside Travis, Source Decay brings together Tristan Field (guitar and creative), Jack Hickey (drums and percussion), Brett Adrien (bass), Colin Ho (keys) and Alister Hill (guru) in an equal, collaborative project that prioritises energy, instinct and collective authorship over fixed genre boundaries.

From 2007 to 2022, Source Decay existed as a solo experimental project focused on ambient composition and field recording. In 2023, the project evolved into a full band format for a special performance at SXSW Sydney, incorporating droning synths, electronic percussion, samples, guitar, and spoken-word, slam-influenced vocals.

Today, Source Decay sits at the intersection of noise, narrative, and cultural critique — pulling from punk, hip-hop, and experimental traditions to build something deliberately unstable, loud and alive.

Dirtbag Charlie came together fast and loud.
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A song built on instinct, frustration, and the kind of creative momentum that only happens when everyone in the room is pushing in the same direction. It’s a big sound: punchy, hook-heavy and deliberately confrontational, driven by hard-hitting verses and a band setup that leans as much into punk energy as it does hip-hop rhythm.

Musically, the track pulls from a warped, Blak-local lineage of pop-punk and experimental rap, stitched together with almost bubble-gum-bright instrumentation that undercuts its sharper edges. Lyrically, Dirtbag Charlie plays in the overlap between politics, internet-rotted pop culture, and the everyday absurdities of settler Australia – jumping from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness to ripping bongs in thongs, beachside bravado and the myths we keep telling ourselves about who we are.

At its core, the song is about theft, entitlement, and the casual confidence of colonial logic — the kind that says “we’ll take this, make it nicer, and call it progress.” It’s tongue-in-cheek without being soft, satirical without pretending neutrality. The humour is sharp because it has to be.

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🎧 Listen to Source Decay – Dirtbag Charlie (2026)